Overview

Matt Gaetz Sexual Misconduct Investigation refers to the ongoing investigation by the American Department of Justice into allegations that Florida congressman Matt Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a minor and violated sex trafficking laws by paying for her travel. Gaetz denied the allegation and insinuated it was part of a criminal extortion scheme involving a former DOJ official.

Background

On March 30th, 2021, Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz floated the idea of taking an early retirement from Congress in order to join the conservative news network Newsmax.^[1] However, later that day, The New York Times^[2] reported that Gaetz was being investigated by the Department of Justice on allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year old girl and paid for her travel. This could potentially violate sex trafficking laws, which state it is illegal to "induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value."

The investigation was opened by the Justice Department in the last days of the Trump administration. It is believed that the Gaetz allegations are part of a larger investigation into local Florida official Joel Greenberg, who was indicted in the summer of 2020 on multiple charges, including sex trafficking and financially supporting a minor in exchange for sex.

Gaetz said in an interview that he believes he is the subject, not the target, of an investigation. “I only know that it has to do with women,” Mr. Gaetz said. “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.” He also said that the allegations are part of an elaborate plot to extort he and his family out of $25 million.

Developments

Gaetz denied the allegations on Twitter, claiming he was the victim of extortion (shown below).^[3]

Later that evening, Gaetz appeared in an interview with Tucker Carlson in which he repeated claims that he was being extorted and that his extorter may be connected to the Biden administration. He named his alleged extortioner as DOJ official as David McGee, who he claims said he could make the investigation go away in exchange for money. After the interview, Carlson said on air it was one of the weirdest interviews he'd ever conducted.^[1] Clips of the interview were posted to Twitter by Aaron Rupar (shown below).

Online Reaction

Online, left-leaning Twitter users reacted with jokes about the scandal and Gaetz' extraordinary defense. @RightWingCope^[4] pointed out that Gaetz was the lone congressperson to vote "no" on a human trafficking bill in Congress in 2017, gaining over 270 retweets and 2,500 likes (shown below, left). @KrangTNelson^[5] joked the scandal was a "five-alarm night" online due to the multiple layers to the story (shown below, right).

The "blue-check libertarians" KrangTNelson referred to included Robby Soave, who was mocked online for expressing skepticism that Gaetz committed "sex trafficking" and noting the age of consent being "16 or 17 in the vast majority of states" (shown below, left). Conservative Nicholas Fuentes also argued it was "No big deal" considering the girl's age (shown below, right).^[6]

Search Interest

External References